Exodus 20:8-11

Exodus 20:8-11 

English Standard Version 

  We don't have much focused observation of the sabbath any more.  We've discovered that Sunday is a great day to get things done, just like the other six days of the week.  So we frantically run from task to task, and now we slide at full speed into Monday, rushing ahead, ever faster.

  The sabbath is a gift.  When we stop working on the sabbath, we discover that it isn't our work that keeps the earth spinning.  God is able to sustain things just fine without us, thank you very much.  What a relief that is -- it takes the pressure off us, and it reminds us who is in charge.  We are reminded that our work isn't necessary for our relationship with God, and we rest.  Our bodies and souls rest, and in doing so we practice for the ultimate rest, when we will rest in the fullness of God, when everything is complete.

  We should practice sabbath.  We should do sabbath from work and sabbath from electronics and sabbath from everything that pulls us away from resting in God.  All of it reminds us of what truly matters -- God's sustaining hand that holds all things together, and God's joyous heart that reaches out and invites us in.

Exodus 20:1-6

Exodus 20:1-6 

English Standard Version 

  Did you write thank you cards?  Do you still write them?  I remember as a kid, my mother was always encouraging me to write thank you cards when people sent me gifts.  It was a good discipline, although I have received gifts that were incredibly challenging to know how to say thank you... when an act of generosity overwhelms you, a card can feel very inadequate.  How do you honor a gift, and the giver?  I've seen incredibly moving ceremonies involving the recipients of organ donation.  You can tell that often, words fall short.  

  The 10 Commandments are a thank you card.  They are anchored in what God has done for the Israelites.  They have been liberated for slavery.  The first thing they should do is not run off after other gods.  To do so would be the height of folly (spoiler:  they do this).  God has proven himself more powerful and more gracious than anything else in creation.  God is reminding the people of God's steadfast love.  

  How do we honor God?  Live in such a way that we aren't worshipping false gods.  It's a good start.

Sermon for April 27, 2025

Exodus 19:1-6

Exodus 19:1-6 

English Standard Version 

  You can tell how God loves God's people -- it jumps off the page.  God delights in the people.  Here on the mountain, God starts by reminding Moses of how great God's love for the people is.  Everything else is rooted in this.  

  Today, there will be all sorts of noise in the world.  The news will be bad, and it will be depressing, although there will be some good news.  You will worry or feel anxious, about yourself or someone you love.  There will be uncertainty -- lots of uncertainty!  That is always frustrating, no matter how many times we tell ourselves that we're growing more comfortable with it.  

  Remember, God has born you on eagles' wings across the gulf that separated us from God due to sin.  God brought you to himself.  You are God's treasured possession, and the earth is God's.

  So let us live with a sense of joy in our soul, and may we serve God as a holy people in the midst of all we do.

Exodus 18:15-18

Exodus 18:15-18 

English Standard Version 

  Do you have anyone in your life who can tell you that what you are doing is not good?  I should add a note that says there are different ways to do this... some people will tell you with delight, pointing out that you are wrong, while others will tell you with compassion.  Seek the ones who do so with compassion.  God sends these people into our lives to remind us that we don't have to do everything on our own.  God sends us these people to share the burden, to offer wise counsel.  God doesn't ask us to do everything on our own.  Look at Jesus -- he was in constant community, surrounded by people, serving alongside them.  God provides for us, for our material and spiritual needs.  Sometimes, we need to set down our pride to hear the wise words of others counseling us how to act.  That can be hard, but when we listen to those speaking with compassion into our lives, they are most likely the voice of the Holy Spirit guiding and leading us, that we can continue to grow in sanctification, the process by which God is shaping us into the disciples we will be for all eternity.

Exodus 17:5-7

Exodus 17:5-7 

English Standard Version 

  Here we have a people, parched for water in the midst of the wilderness, and Moses strikes the rock, and water emerges.  

  Sound familiar?

  All of this is meant to point ahead to Christ.  Christ is the rock who is struck down, and from him, the water of life emerges.  When we read all of Scripture, we get the image of the waters that flow from the garden of Eden and wind their way through Scripture, ending up in the garden in the Kingdom of God in Revelation, beside which grows the tree of life with fruit for healing of all the nations.  We who sojourn in this land are thirsty, and God provides, at great cost.  Christ is struck down, but for our benefit -- we would have otherwise perished, but are given the waters of life.  We are saved through the waters, and so we drink deeply.  Other waters may promise to save us, but only this water truly can.  Thanks be to God for generous provisions as we travel this way together.

Exodus 17:1-4

Exodus 17:1-4 

English Standard Version 

  So things are going well on the journey...  The people are ready to kill Moses, and they're wondering why God ever brought them out of Egypt, because they think they're going to die.  Perhaps if there was a vote, they'd turn around and head back to Egypt.  Things were great there, but they've forgotten all the bad parts, which is hard to do, considering that I think Egypt was mostly bad parts.

  But we have an incredible capacity to forget the bad parts.  That's what makes it easy to spend so many hours thinking about the good old days, and wondering about decisions or choices we've made in the past. 

  In reality, we made the best choice we could with the information we had available.  Some of them worked out, some didn't, but it's rarely clear.

  And the good old days had plenty of stress.  It was different, but life was hard then, too.  

  So keep your eyes focused forward.  Don't be like the Israelites and always look back, comparing the stress of today to the stress of yesterday.  The stress of yesterday will always seem less by comparison, but that's often because our memories distort things.  God is with you in the here and now, calling you by name, sending you forward, equipping you for the challenges, even if you feel like you can't handle them in the moment.  We often cannot on our own, but the power of the Holy Spirit is at work, binding us to community, and giving us what we need to endure.  We have water in the wilderness, enough for our parched throats.

Exodus 16:32-35

Exodus 16:32-35 

English Standard Version 

  Not long ago I saw another one of those news stories about a McDonald's cheeseburger from twenty years ago that someone has kept and it still hasn't gone bad.  I see one of these every few years, and it always renews my desire not to eat McDonald's.  It's not natural for food to last that long.

  In the same vein, God commands that some of the manna be preserved as a reminder to the people of how God miraculously fed them in the wilderness.  It's not natural that food last that long -- but unlike McDonald's, which depends on chemicals, this food is preserved as a miracle of God.  It's a reminder to the people that it wasn't natural for food to fall from the sky.  It wasn't natural for the people to endure the wilderness, but God intervened and provided food for their journey.  God sustained them through manna.  The manna was preserved as a reminder of how God watches out for God's people.

  What do you have in your day, in your life, that reminds you of how God preserves you?  We all need reminders.  Let us have consistent occasions to stop and remember all that God has done for us.

Easter Sermon (2025)

Exodus 16:27-30

Exodus 16:27-30

English Standard Version 

  Have you ever been around a child that is exhausted but refuses to sleep?  You tell the child that they need to sleep, but they think that's a terrible idea and have other proposals about how to spend the time.  It's often a completely ridiculous conversation that ends when they collapse into sleep.

  I think that's sometimes how God looks at us.  God knows we need rest, but we're convinced that we instead need to cram a 27th thing into our day.  We hustle from one thing to the next, each one exhausting to the body, mind, and soul, but there's a sense of urgency that drives us.  Maybe we're trying to prove a point to ourselves, or to others, but either way, we keep going despite our exhaustion.  In modern culture, it's a point of bragging as to how exhausted we are.  

  God knows we need rest.  God built a Sabbath into the week and told us to rest.  When God was miraculously feeding the Israelites on their journey through the wilderness, God had them collect twice as much manna on one day so they wouldn't have to go and collect on the Sabbath. Some of them went anyway.  God sighs, and tells them to rest.  

  God sighs, and tells us to rest.  Find some rest for your weary soul.  You're not holding up the world.  We can stop for a few minutes.  Breathe.  Remember that it depends on God, which is a far better thing for the world to depend on than our efforts!  We were made to rest in God.  Let us create space in our lives for our souls to rest in God.

Mark 15:37-39

Mark 15:37-39

English Standard Version 

 

  They estimate that the veil in the curtain was maybe 30 feet high, and it could have been as much as four inches thick.  I've heard it say that horses couldn't have pulled it apart.  It served to separate the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple, so that the section where God was thought to dwell would be walled off from all other parts of the temple.

  But with the death of Jesus, that veil was miraculously torn in two, showing us that Christ's death removes any barriers between the people and God.  God is not walled off, but through the death of Christ, we have access to the fullness of God's glory, a thing we can barely comprehend.  When I read Revelation and it speaks of the wonders of God's glory, I am clearly not worthy to be there on my own, and yet through the fullness of Christ's glory that is given to me, I can join the saints of the church from every time and place and worship the wonders of God.

  What a gift, and what a cost.  May we spend some time today reflecting on all that God has done for us.

Mark 14:37-38

Mark 14:37-38

English Standard Version 

  On this Maundy Thursday, remember that Jesus always looks for the best in you.  He asked the disciples to stay awake and pray with him, and yet they could not.  They fell asleep multiple times, failing Jesus' commands in his moment of need.

  But Jesus didn't reprimand them.  He looked at them and looked for the best.  

  He does the same for you.  He looks at you and looks for the best, the parts where we reflect the image of God that we are made in.  Jesus loves us with sweetness and grace, and this Holy Week, we see the extent he will go to show the fullness of that love.  

  So give thanks for a Savior who loves you like no other.

Exodus 16:16-18

Exodus 16:16-18 

English Standard Version 

  The people had been living in slavery for four hundred years -- they had been trained that life was based on what you could get for yourself.  They had to fight and scratch and claw for everything.

  And so here they are, in the wilderness, likely assuming that life is the same, that they need to scrap merely to survive.  

  But God has a different idea of the rhythm of life.  Some people would be able to gather more, some less, but at the end of the day, each has enough.  It reminds me of Jesus feeding the 5,000 in Mark -- there were 12 baskets left over.  There was abundance.  Each person had enough.

  That's the picture of the Kingdom of God.  So many of us spend our lives racing, fighting, trying to get ahead.  But God shows us that life lived in the Kingdom is one where we have enough.  We look to our Shepherd, and we do not want.  We rest by still waters.

Exodus 16:9-12

Exodus 16:9-12 

English Standard Version 

  The Israelites were set free, and how did they thank God?  Mostly, they grumbled.  They grumbled about the food and the water and the desert and the journey and everything else.  

  God could have easily left the people on their own, wondering if they would ever be truly grateful for anything.  But God was committed to God's people.  God was committed to demonstrating how God could sustain them through challenging seasons.  The journey through the wilderness wasn't going to be easy, but it was intended to form a people with a new identity.  They had been slaves for four centuries -- it was going to take time for them to learn how to be God's people and how to depend on God.  

  God is still teaching us today.  We allow so many different things to define our identities in this day and age.  We are fractured, chasing so many competing priorities.  The voice of the Holy Spirit is speaking to us, calling to us, reminding us of the God who has set us free and set us aside to serve as faithful disciples in this day and age.

Exodus 16:2-3

Exodus 16:2-3 

English Standard Version 

  Sometimes you finally decide to move on from a car because it keeps breaking and warning lights are on and things are falling off, and so you buy a new car, and the second something goes wrong, you think back to how great your old car was and how it never gave you any problems.  That's essentially what the Israelites are doing now that they've left Egypt behind -- they're thinking about how great it was back in Egypt.

  It's so easy to forget the hard things we've been through.  We look back and think about how green the grass was, despite the fact that while we were in the middle of it, the grass was green because it was raining all the time, and we were struggling to keep our heads above water.  But we move forward, and when we meet new opposition, we look back and think about how great it was.  

  Scripture reminds us to keep looking forward -- when we fix our eyes on the future God has in store for us, then we aren't obsessing over what is in the past.  We're growing into discipleship, letting God work on us.  

Exodus 15:22-25

Exodus 15:22-25 

English Standard Version 

  It's interesting to think about this in light of the first plague.  Then, God turned the waters of the life-giving and sustaining Nile into blood as a way to show that God was in control of life.  Here, the bitter waters prevented the people from drinking, and so God turns the water sweet, so the people can enjoy the life-giving and sustaining water in the desert.  

  As with so many things in life, bad things from the past are redeemed, because God is at work, setting up patterns of redemption in our lives, showing us the restorative power of the Gospel.  Have you ever had something bad happen in your past, only for something good that you never could have expected come out of that thing?  I think about all the struggles I had with engineering in college, to the point where I eventually dropped that major and ended up studying religion and accounting, two skills that sustain me at this point in my career.  Not what I ever expected -- but where I looked at things with disappointment, there was opportunity in the threads that God was weaving.  

  This is the power of the Gospel.  This is the message of Good Friday -- the ultimate tragedy, and yet from that, God draws the ultimate life-giving and sustaining miracle.  So let us not despair.  It is right to mourn some things in life, and yet there is always hope in the midst.  Sometimes it is hard to see it, and sometimes we are too broken to look.  That is the power of community.  They come sit alongside us and help sustain us, and when the time is right, they help us find the hope to move forward, to find the life sustaining power of the Holy Spirit at work redeeming the broken things in life and making them beautiful.

Exodus 15:1-3

Exodus 15:1-3 

English Standard Version

  Here's a challenge for you -- take a few moments and write a few lines praising God for what God has done for you. 

  Moses and the people sing this song to celebrate God's triumph over the Egyptians and their deliverance out of slavery.  What has God done for you?  Spend some time writing out some words that give praise to God for God's gracious treatment towards you.

Exodus 14:30-31

Exodus 14:30-31

English Standard Version 

*************

  This has to be one of the top moments from history that you'd want to see in person, right?  If you had a time machine, you'd want to go back and see the waters parted.  I'd be so curious to know what it looked like, how the people walked through the sea bed, and how the waters closed over the Egyptians.  I'd want to marvel at the waters piling up.  It's easy to think that if you ever saw such a miracle, you'd never doubt the power of God again.  Right?

  Well, until the next time something bad happened.  That's what the Egyptians thought.  As soon as they grew hungry or thirsty, they assumed that God had forgotten about them.

  We have short memories. We're very much a people who evaluate others based on what they've done for us lately.  We don't consider extenuating circumstances or give people credit for years and years of activities -- if they mess up the most recent thing, they're out. 

  Thankfully, God doesn't consider us in the same way.  God doesn't kick us out when we get something wrong.  God pours out grace upon us, just as God continues to feed and sustain the Israelites.  

  May that transform the way we treat one another, offering others the same grace we have received.

Exodus 14:19-22

Exodus 14:19-22 

English Standard Version 

  When the Old Testament speaks about The angel of the Lord, it's referring to Christ.  Here he is, just as he is in the New Testament, placed between the people and their enemy.  The Egyptians are pursuing the people, and Jesus goes between them, sending light into the Israelites, that they might have hope in the face of their fear.  

  It may seem to the people as though there wasn't a way out, but with Christ shielding them from their enemies, suddenly a way appears, miraculously.  There is hope, and in the place of despair, there is a path through the waters, and the people walk through on dry land.

  I don't know what fearful situation you might be facing, but give thanks that our Savior comes to stand between you and that fear.  Through his power, there is a way made where there was no way, and there is life beyond despair through the power and love of Christ.

Exodus 14:10-14

Exodus 14:10-14 

English Standard Version 

  So the Israelites are fleeing from Pharaoh, and they are afraid.  They ask Moses if they were brought out into the wilderness to die, such is their confidence in God's deliverance.  They wish they could undo it all and go back to the lives of slavery that they knew.  

  Into this chaos, Moses tells the people to not be afraid, and he says what is one of my favorite lines in the Bible.  The Lord will fight for you, you have only to be silent.

  This is the Gospel message.  We are not the ones who need to triumph -- the battle belongs to the Lord, and he will emerge victorious.  His strength and might will carry the day, and our job is to trust and believe.  We who are weary and beaten down need not find a way to battle to the top of the mountain -- we are to give thanks that the one who secures the mountain comes down to find us.  It is improbable, but it is wonderful, because I can scarcely find my way through the day most days.  God is good, and we are to trust in the one who fights for us, no matter the enemies that gather around us.

Exodus 13:17-22

Exodus 13:17-22

English Standard Version 

  Sometimes, when I'm flying home, the pilot has to wait to park the plane because the ground crew isn't there yet.  The pilot needs the ground crew to direct the plane and ensure it's safely parked.  They need to direct him.  

  The Israelites had the advantage of having God direct their journey.  God appeared in a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day, constantly guiding the people so they'd know where to go.

  Did that make it easy?

  Based on the amount of grumbling they did over the next few years, it clearly didn't serve as a constant reminder of all that God had done for them.  They forgot, and they grumbled.  

  So let's not assume that it was any easier for anyone.  It's always tough, because we see opposition and forget about the God who is with us.  God sends reminders, although in these days it's often not such visually obvious ways, but God still reminds us.  So let us keep our eyes and the eyes of our hearts open for what God has in store for us.

Exodus 13:3-8

Exodus 13:3-8

English Standard Version 

  How do you remember?

  When we were kids, we thought about what would make us happy, and when we hit those targets later on... the scoreboard had changed, and we wanted more.  Later on, we achieved more... and once again, the target had moved.  Our appetites had grown.  We grew accustomed to success and forgot about where we'd come from.  We get comfortable.

  Moses is trying to set up a practice to help the people remember. He wants them to remember, once they get into the promised land, where they have come from and how they got there.  Moses wants them to remember all that God has done for them, so they don't start grumbling as soon as things go wrong.  Moses wants them to be anchored in their identity, so they don't drift away from God, growing comfortable in ease and not thinking about all that God did to free them from slavery.

  So how do we remember all that God has done for us?  How do we continually remind ourselves that we have been bought with a price, that God loves and treasures us, and that we have been set free for a purpose, and we should live in gratitude towards God?

Exodus 12:33-36

Exodus 12:33-36 

English Standard Version 

  God didn't let God's people leave empty-handed.  They'd been through something incredibly challenging, an awful four centuries of hardship.  They probably wondered if God had forgotten about them.  

  God had not forgotten.  No matter how many times they'd wondered... God did not forget.

  In the same way, God does not forget about you.  God does not abandon you.  Prayers are not always answered in the time frame that we'd like, but that doesn't mean that God isn't listening, and it doesn't mean that blessings are not coming.  

  So hold onto hope, no matter how dark the night may seem.